System Utilities

This set of utilities exposes some of Raycast's native functionality to allow deep integration into the user's setup. For example, you can use the Application APIs to check if a desktop application is installed and then provide an action to deep-link into it.

API Reference

getApplications

Returns all applications that can open the file or URL.

Signature

async function getApplications(path?: PathLike): Promise<Application[]>;

Example

Find Application

import { getApplications, Application } from "@raycast/api";

// it is a lot more reliable to get an app by its bundle ID than its path
async function findApplication(bundleId: string): Application | undefined {
  const installedApplications = await getApplications();
  return installedApplications.filter((application) => application.bundleId == bundleId);
}

List Installed Applications

import { getApplications } from "@raycast/api";

export default async function Command() {
  const installedApplications = await getApplications();
  console.log("The following applications are installed on your Mac:");
  console.log(installedApplications.map((a) => a.name).join(", "));
}

Parameters

Name	Description	Type
path	The path of the file or folder to get the applications for. If no path is specified, all installed applications are returned.	PathLike

Return

An array of Application.

getDefaultApplication

Returns the default application that the file or URL would be opened with.

Signature

async function getDefaultApplication(path: PathLike): Promise<Application>;

Example

import { getDefaultApplication } from "@raycast/api";

export default async function Command() {
  const defaultApplication = await getDefaultApplication(__filename);
  console.log(`Default application for JavaScript is: ${defaultApplication.name}`);
}

Parameters

Name	Description	Type
path*	The path of the file or folder to get the default application for.	PathLike

Return

A Promise that resolves with the default Application that would open the file or URL. If no application was found, the promise will be rejected.

getFrontmostApplication

Returns the frontmost application.

Signature

async function getFrontmostApplication(): Promise<Application>;

Example

import { getFrontmostApplication } from "@raycast/api";

export default async function Command() => {
  const frontmostApplication = await getFrontmostApplication();
  console.log(`The frontmost application is: ${frontmostApplication.name}`);
};

Return

A Promise that resolves with the frontmost Application. If no application was found, the promise will be rejected.

showInFinder

Shows a file or directory in the Finder.

Signature

async function showInFinder(path: PathLike): Promise<void>;

Example

import { showInFinder } from "@raycast/api";
import { homedir } from "os";
import { join } from "path";

export default async function Command() {
  await showInFinder(join(homedir(), "Downloads"));
}

Parameters

Name	Description	Type
path*	The path to show in the Finder.	PathLike

Return

A Promise that resolves when the item is revealed in the Finder.

trash

Moves a file or directory to the Trash.

Signature

async function trash(path: PathLike | PathLike[]): Promise<void>;

Example

import { trash } from "@raycast/api";
import { writeFile } from "fs/promises";
import { homedir } from "os";
import { join } from "path";

export default async function Command() {
  const file = join(homedir(), "Desktop", "yolo.txt");
  await writeFile(file, "I will be deleted soon!");
  await trash(file);
}

Parameters

Name	Description	Type
path*		PathLike or PathLike[]

Return

A Promise that resolves when all files are moved to the trash.

open

Opens a target with the default application or specified application.

Signature

async function open(target: string, application?: Application | string): Promise<void>;

Example

import { open } from "@raycast/api";

export default async function Command() {
  await open("https://www.raycast.com", "com.google.Chrome");
}

Parameters

Name	Description	Type
target*	The file, folder or URL to open.	string
application	The application name to use for opening the file. If no application is specified, the default application as determined by the system is used to open the specified file. Note that you can use the application name, app identifier, or absolute path to the app.	string or Application

Return

A Promise that resolves when the target has been opened.

captureException

Report the provided exception to the Developer Hub. This helps in handling failures gracefully while staying informed about the occurrence of the failure.

Signature

function captureException(exception: unknown): void;

Example

import { open, captureException, showToast, Toast } from "@raycast/api";

export default async function Command() {
  const url = "https://www.raycast.com";
  const app = "Google Chrome";
  try {
    await open(url, app);
  } catch (e: unknown) {
    captureException(e);
    await showToast({
      style: Toast.Style.Failure,
      title: `Could not open ${url} in ${app}.`,
    });
  }
}

Parameters

Name	Description	Type
target*	The file, folder or URL to open.	string
application	The application name to use for opening the file. If no application is specified, the default application as determined by the system is used to open the specified file. Note that you can use the application name, app identifier, or absolute path to the app.	string or Application

Types

Application

An object that represents a locally installed application on the system.

It can be used to open files or folders in a specific application. Use getApplications or getDefaultApplication to get applications that can open a specific file or folder.

Properties

Property	Description	Type
name*	The display name of the application.	string
path*	The absolute path to the application bundle, e.g. /Applications/Raycast.app,	string
bundleId	The bundle identifier of the application, e.g. com.raycast.macos.	string
localizedName	The localized name of the application.	string

PathLike

PathLike: string | Buffer | URL;

Supported path types.